The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Dendranthema grandiflora and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Yocarson City.
The new Chrysanthemum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Salinas, Calif. and Fort Myers, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new potted Chrysanthemum cultivars with desirable inflorescence form and floret colors and good postproduction longevity.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made by the Inventors in May, 1993, in Salinas, Calif., of a proprietary Chrysanthemum seedling selection identified as YB-4034 as the female, or seed, parent with the Chrysanthemum cultivar Mobile, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,335, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventors in December, 1996, as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Fort Myers, Fla. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form and floret colors and good postproduction longevity.
Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Fort Myers, Fla. in February, 1997. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Yocarson City has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Yocarson Cityxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Yocarson Cityxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Chrysanthemum:
1. Upright, somewhat outwardly spreading and uniformly mounded plant habit.
2. Vigorous growth habit.
3. Freely branching, dense and full plants.
4. Uniform flowering response.
5. Early flowering, eight-week response time.
6. Very freely flowering.
7. Daisy-type inflorescences that are about 7.3 cm in diameter.
8. Bright red and yellow bicolored ray florets with green disc florets that develop slowly.
9. Can be grown as a natural spray-type.
10. Pollen production not observed.
11. Good postproduction longevity with inflorescences maintaining good substance and color for at least three weeks in an interior environment.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum differ from plants of the parent, cultivar, Mobile, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are denser and not as open in plant form as plants of the cultivar Mobile.
2. Ray floret color of the new Chrysanthemum is brighter and more orange than ray floret color of plants of the cultivar Mobile.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are more freely flowering than plants of the cultivar Mobile.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have not been observed to produce pollen whereas plants of the cultivar Mobile produce abundant pollen.